All I'll Ever Need

I couldn’t imagine getting used to waking up beside Sidney. He was still asleep this time when I woke up, and in his sleep, he looked more peaceful than any other time. There was a tiny smile on his lips because, I mean, Sidney’s always smiling—unless he’s in game mode or in a bad mood, but more times than not, the man is smiling.

Even when he talks, he smiles, and that’s not something you come by often, someone so genuinely happy that it comes out when they’re making an everyday sentence. He could say, “I like cheese,” with a smile, and damn it, that man likes his cheese.

In his sleep was no different.

Like usual, however, when I stared at him too long, he woke up and looked right back at me. The tiny smile stretched into an even bigger one as he reached his arms out in front of himself and hesitated so he could stretch his muscles out.

It was already decided that we didn’t need to spend two hours just laying in bed again, like we had yesterday morning, but the idea was definitely tempting.

“Good morning,” he whispered, and I felt a surge of heat flush off his steaming body as he turned on his side and pulled me against him. “Did you sleep good? I know I did.”

I nodded into his chest and let out a breath. “I did. No nightmares, no waking up in the middle of the night . . . it was peaceful.”

“Good.” He kissed the top of my head and immediately let me go so he could roll out of bed. “What time did you say you had to work today?”

The reminder that I had to go back to work and face the people I hadn’t seen since the mishap with that man who insisted I was “Cindy’s cover-up” actually made me groan. “Right. Work. Uh . . . twelve to close? No. One.”

Sidney looked back to me with an adorable look of amusement and disbelief. At this point, he knew how I operated, so the idea that I was so confident in my memory that I was gonna go with my decision, one o’clock . . . apparently he found that funny.

“I’ll call Trevor and make sure,” I sighed. “Fine.”

“Just trying to help you keep your job,” he said, holding his hands up in defense as the laughter he worked so hard to contain came busting out. “If you wanna risk it, go right ahead.”

“No, you’re right,” I sighed, but I didn’t roll over to pick up my phone without a whining fight. “Do I have to go to work?”

Sidney shrugged, but he immediately picked up on my pouty mood. “Well, no, but I don’t think your boss would like that very much.”

My lips fell down into a scowl. “I could just go back to his office and blow him if I really cared about this job enough.”

“You’re not funny.”

“I wasn’t being funny.” My nose scrunched as Sidney plopped back on the bed beside me, still in his shirtless glory I could seriously stare at all day—for the rest of my life even. “The sad truth is, that’s all it would take to keep my job there forever.”

“On a positive note, you’ll be finished with school after this semester,” he reminded me. “Then, you can quit.”

My eyebrows pulled together as I nodded, but I purposely kept my gaze away from Sidney. Any time someone mentioned “almost finished with school,” or “about to start your lifelong career,” every part of me cringed.

Truth was, something I hadn’t really talked about to anyone, I didn’t wanna just be a nurse for the rest of my life. Yes, I understand nurses are completely necessary and wonderful, but that wasn’t what I wanted to do forever.

I wanted to go all the way, go through medical school and become a doctor. Not just any ordinary doctor either. I wanted to become an emergency doctor.

But with Matty . . . with everything going on . . . that just wasn’t possible.

Sidney noticed the way my eyes stayed focused away from him, but until he was nestled back against the headboard with one arm draped around my shoulders, he didn’t say anything. “So, you know you’re gonna end up telling me what’s on your mind. You might as well just get it over with.”

I shook my head. “No can do. It doesn’t matter anyways.”

“If it’s important to you, it matters,” he disagreed.

I began chewing on my bottom lip, but his embrace was so easy to fall into. While Sidney just held me and waited for the inevitable, I fell over on his shoulder and snuggled against his side, loving the warmth of his bare chest against my face. It was one of the best feelings in the world, and when I closed my eyes, I realized that this was gonna be my forever.

This moment.

That excited and frightened me, but ready or not, it was here. Sidney would be beside me every step of the way, and through thick and thin, we would get through it all together.

Together . . . .

I couldn’t wait for that to be official because I wanted to kiss him so badly. I wanted to kiss him, cuddle with him, cling to him in ways I’m otherwise not allowed.

I couldn’t wait to be Sid’s girl.

This shift was a nightmare.

Trevor had a fight that night, so he wasn’t there. He told me the other day, but of course I forgot in the chaos of everything else.

I wasn’t closing alone, but the cook that was there in Trevor’s place was new. He didn’t really know Mr. Johnson, nor did he know I had tendencies to get myself into bad situations. All he knew was that he was starting on a closing shift that wasn’t bad—a slow Sunday night.

I hadn’t actually told Sidney what time we closed, so I wasn’t sure when he would be there. All I focused on was getting the place cleaned up so I could get the hell out of there.

The new guy, however . . . ? He was absolutely horrible. He wiped off the stove, grabbed his keys, and left me there to do the rest of it by myself. I tried to stop him and tell him we had the rest of the store to do, but like a fucking punk ass teenager, he rolled his eyes and said, “I was told to clean my station. My station’s clean. Peace, bitch.”

It was all I could do not to drag his punk ass back in here and force him to clean, but thinking about that made me feel kind of old. He was only four years younger than me, but the obvious gap in maturity was astounding.

Was . . . was it like that with Sid and me? I know with each four years, it’s always different, but was I severely less mature than him and completely oblivious about it?

Fuck, I would definitely have to ask him about that. Or ask someone.

About the time I finished up and sent Sid a text to let him know I was done, Mr. Johnson came back into the dining room with his shirt unbuttoned, letting his large stomach hang out. It was barely contained by the thin wife beater underneath, but the most horrifying thing? His belt was undone.

On normal occasions, I wouldn’t have given it a second thought, but I had reasons to be paranoid. Aside from the fact he was a Grade A pervert, it wasn’t like it had never happened before. A guy caught me off guard, got the better of me . . . .

I swallowed back the painful memories and took a large step towards the clock out machine by the door. Of course, he stepped behind me. Without Trevor there, it had become an unsettling routine.

“Just a second, Mika,” he murmured. “I told you time off would have to be made up for.”

“I told you I’d work seven days a week if I had to,” I reminded him. “But we’re closed. I’m leaving.”

This felt empowering, and strange. Where had this come from? Not even a month ago, when he tried this shit, I couldn’t say anything. If Sidney hadn’t called, there was no telling what would’ve happened.

Now? I was standing up for myself for reasons I didn’t understand.

Until I thought about it, and then, I understood.

Before, I never thought I was worth standing up for, so I couldn’t get the words out, but now, as Mr. Johnson took yet another step closer to me, I realized that maybe I wasn’t worth standing up for, but that didn’t mean I deserved to suffer. It didn’t mean I deserved to have to live through whatever he pushed upon me.

I didn’t have to let him push me around, or anyone for that matter.

Before I could think about it, I turned to face him with a glare branded on my face. His surprise and anger didn’t stop me, however. “Listen, I’m not your little play toy, so no. I won’t go back to your office. Not for a chat or whatever other nightmare you might’ve come up with.”

“If you want to keep this job, you will do exactly as I say,” he growled.

Reason, logic . . . they had both escaped my mind as I liberated myself and stood up for my right to feel safe, my right to be free from his perverse ways. They were immediately shoved back in at his statement, however.

Just as quickly as he pushed them back in, I shoved them right back out and left. Barely remembering to swipe my name badge through the time clock machine, I walked right out the door.

And for the first time ever, he followed.

Standing in the middle of the parking lot was a bit obvious, but with the late hour, no one was around in this neighborhood. Mr. Johnson probably turned the cameras off.

“Mika, I suggest you get back in here,” he commanded, and my legs immediately stopped working, against my own free will. For some reason, my fear decided it would be a good idea to freeze my body in place. “You think you’ll get another job anywhere else? You could possibly have a life threatening disease passed down by your father. Your brother’s a fucking cripple. You’re in school. Where do you think will hire you?”

The sound of a car door slamming shut honesty shouldn’t have surprised me, but it did. “You know what, you fucking piece of shit scum?”

I immediately looked over to a furious Sidney as he took long and quick strides towards Mr. Johnson, who clearly knew what was going on here. While Sidney got closer, Mr. Johnson took frightened steps back.

This couldn’t be pretty, so I did whatever I could to stop him—including putting myself in-between the two. “Sid, come on. Let’s just go.”

“Get in the car, Mika,” he said without a hint of a question in his voice. Rage solidified his statement, and if I hadn’t caught a glimpse of it on his face, I might’ve been stubborn and stayed where I was.

I, however, wanted to get away from there. There was nothing Mr. Johnson could possibly do to Sidney, and the safety of the warm Range Rover was beckoning me.

If it had been anyone other than Sidney, or Geno or Beau . . . or any of the Penguins, really . . . I probably wouldn’t have gotten in the Range Rover. Actually, I would’ve protested the hell out of it and insisted I could take care of myself when, in reality, I was losing to Mr. Johnson every time if I had nowhere to run.

But I did this time.

The fear rolling around in the large man’s grey eyes was almost entertaining to Sidney. He felt a little demented when he enjoyed how frightened the man was, but this man deserved to be afraid.

Just like the women he terrorized in his diner, the women who had nowhere else to go . . . what about the fear he made them feel every time they walked through those doors?

“If you lay a hand on me, I’ll have you arrested!” the larger man exclaimed, but his statement lost some of the intended fear element when it came out shaking like a China cabinet in an earthquake.

Sidney grabbed him by the shirt and threw him back against the painted brick wall behind him. Had he not been larger, the force Sidney used to shove him might’ve hurt him, but as angry as Sidney was, hurting him wouldn’t have solved anything.

Might make me feel better, though.

Sidney had to take the high road, though. Just like when someone on the ice hurt a teammate or said some offhand comment to get under his skin . . . .

That was Sidney’s weakness, though, at least in his eyes. People could get under his skin if they pushed just the right buttons, and this man had pushed every button Sidney had. Terrorizing helpless people, using power to get sex, trying to hurt Mika . . . this man had no chance.

Well, that was what Sidney thought anyways. Somehow, Sidney restrained himself. He only used enough force to get the man’s large frame against the wall so that Sidney could look right into his eyes as he said what needed to be said.

“If you ever, I mean ever, pull this shit with any of your employees, I’ll have your ass in jail faster than you can say Pittsburgh Penguins,” Sidney promised. Though he managed to hold back some of his strength, he couldn’t contain the darkness that spilled out in his voice. “Now, if you ever so much as look at Mika the wrong way again, so much as think about her the wrong way again, it’s not really gonna matter how much you think about it later. There won’t be anything left to give you pleasure.”

Every fiber of Sid’s being told him to deck the man, punch him as hard as he could, but Sidney held strong and left him there. Pushed himself away and briskly walked over to join Mika in the Range Rover.

Out of instinct, Sidney checked around himself for any signs of people with cameras, but as angry as he was, he didn’t figure he’d see one that was even remotely hidden.

Way to go, Sid.

Sidney was disappointed in himself until he closed the door and found those mystifying green orbs staring back at him. They were brighter than usual with red stained around them, and the regret Sidney felt then wasn’t the same.

He only regretted not punishing Mr. Johnson some more.

The smallest of smiles tried to pull across Mika’s lips, but she was clearly in no mood for smiling. Any time she tried, it came across as a painful grimace, and she only cried more.

As much as Sidney wanted to hold her, he knew that he had to get her somewhere safe first. The diner was about ten minutes from his house, but he made it back in less than five.

Those five minutes were enough to destroy him, though. She wasn’t crying anymore, not by the time they got home, but the scars remained bright and red down her cheeks. Her eyes were puffy, and she had to sniffle every fifteen seconds.

But she was okay.

That was hard for Sidney to imagine as he walked around to her side of the Rover and pulled her bridal style into his arms. Sidney wondered if she would’ve stopped him if she wasn’t so emotionally drained, but he couldn’t say for sure. Lately, the things she did surprised him.

Either way, Mika allowed Sidney to hold her and actually snuggled into his arms. They walked through the front door without issue, but Sidney had to put in the alarm code before the cops were alerted. When he started to put Mika down to punch in the code for the alarm, she did it for him.

Sidney almost smiled at how well they worked together, but instead, he held her close and walked the two of them back to his room.

“I don’t wanna talk about it,” she mumbled. “But . . . thank you, Sidney. You didn’t have to do that, and you probably shouldn’t have.”

Sidney couldn’t wrap his head around what she said: didn’t have to? Shouldn’t have?

His head shook before he realized it. “I did what needed to be done in order to protect you and anyone else who works there. You shouldn’t have to put up with that, Mika, and I’ll be damned if I let you go back there.”

“He was right, Sid,” Mika whispered. “No one else wants to hire me.”

“Why?”

The idea that her disgusting boss was right about something made him as mad as thinking her father was right about something did. In his head, everything they did was wrong and sick, so how could they be right about something?

“Because I’m still in school,” she said. “I may have to leave at a moment’s notice if something happens to Matty. Everywhere I went said I was unreliable, or they couldn’t give me the hours I needed.”

Sidney took a deep breath and kicked off his tennis shoes absentmindedly. “Matty’s here, and Suzie’s watching him. Nothing’s gonna happen to him.” It was beyond hard for Sid to keep himself from thinking about Matty too much right then, but he knew it might ruin the surprise. “You can find another job.”

Mika really hadn’t thought about it. With her dad’s passing still fresh, the reality was most jobs didn’t wanna hire her because her dad was dying. No, she didn’t have HIV, and that wasn’t the reason they didn’t want her. Countless times, she had herself tested to make sure, even though the chances of her catching it from him were beyond none.

It had nothing to do with the fact he was dying either. When she informed the people she applied for that she may have to leave at moment’s notice to take care of her father and brother, they didn’t like it, but she really said brother as a precaution. Matty was fine. There was nothing that was gonna happen to him that would require her to leave her job.

The problem with getting a different job had passed. Her father wasn’t her burden to bear anymore.

So the idea that she might get another job, even if for just a few more months until she graduated college and got a job as a nurse . . . it made her happy.

“I think I’ll go look tomorrow,” she murmured, and though she was exhausted and still not in the mood to talk about that with Sidney, she was able to give him a sincere smile as she slid out of her own shoes to get ready for bed. “Thanks, Sid.”

“I just want the very best for you,” he whispered, his voice so soft she was almost uncertain he had said anything at all. She was confident he had, however, when he continued on. “For the rest of your life.”

He didn’t realize just how much his words meant to her, but he also didn’t realize that as long as he was there, she would have the very best.